Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of ensuring (a) protection for (i) rivers, (ii) chalk streams and (iii) coastal waters, and (b) accountability for polluters in the Clean Water Bill.

The Clean Water Bill forms part of a wider programme of reforms to restore the water environment and improve performance across the sector.

The Bill will support action to reduce pollution at source, secure long-term investment in water infrastructure and improve environmental outcomes across rivers, coastal waters and other water bodies. It will contribute to strengthening accountability for polluters through reforms to water company regulation and oversight.

The Government is taking action to help address the pressures chalk streams face, including through environmental policy and the Planning and Infrastructure Act, which makes clear, through the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) that planning policies and decisions should protect and enhance valued landscapes and sites of biodiversity, which includes chalk streams.